Here are 20 “rules”, featured in my USA Today Nutrition Nation blog, that will steer you down the path of better health.
1. Buy food with short, pronounceable ingredient lists.
2. Buy food that’s naturally nutritious, not ones excessively fortified to be.
3. Only eat if you have a table, plate and chair.
4. Make produce 50% of each meal & snack.
5. Focus on being pro-plants, not anti-meat. The more plants you eat, the healthier you will be. Simply eliminating meat doesn’t ensure a healthy diet. Have you read my book, The Flexitarian Diet?
6. Enjoy meals.
7. Chew.
8. Keep snacks simple.
9. Eat sweets only socially.
10. Don’t eat free food. Yes, that means bread on a restaurant table, samples at the grocery store and food left in the office break-room.
11. In sight, In mouth. Use that truth to your advantage to have more healthy foods around and fewer unhealthy ones.
12. Take healthy shortcuts. Canned beans, frozen brown rice and pre-cut veggies save time, but don’t skimp on nutrition.
13. Drink water. Plain and simple.
14. Eat water-rich foods. They will fill you up faster than dry foods.
15. Be calorie conscious, not obsessed or oblivious.
16. To lose weight you never have to eat more calories, you must eat fewer.
17. Don’t overeat and then over-exercise to balance it – that taxes your body.
18. Don’t eat food labeled as ‘diet’ when dieting or anytime.
19. Cravings are like any emotions, with a 10-minute “time-out” they will calm down.
20. Don’t let your food rules prevent you from enjoying life.
To access the full article on USA Today Nutrition Nation Blog, click here.